Home at last

What a great time we had at the 2014 Ohio Beef Expo!

Taking a total of 5 cows was a huge undertaking, and to say we came home exhausted is an understatement.

Friday afternoon was the Miniature Hereford show.  There were about 36 cows represented at the show this year.  We were very pleased with how all of our cows performed.  Boomer was Reserve Champion of the Winter Junior Bull Calves, Mitchell was Champion of the Summer Junior Bull Calves, Blue was Reserve Champion of the Summer Junior Bull Calves, Rachel placed 4th in her class and Blue and Mitchell were Reserve Champion Pair of Bulls.

As usual, we had a great time with all of the other breeders.  Thursday was busy getting everybody washed and clipped.  Friday was a very hectic show day, but we got everyone prettied up in time for the show.  We had many visitors the entire show that we really enjoyed meeting and talking with. 

Saturday afternoon most people went home, but we just moved.  We stayed Saturday and Sunday for the BEST show.  We packed up some of our gear and took some of the cows home.  Everything else got moved out to the viaducts for the rest of the weekend.  Isaac and Walker showed Boo and Rachel in the showmanship class on Saturday afternoon.  We were back up at 4:30 a.m. Sunday morning to get Boo and Rachel ready for the heifer and market classes.  There are many more participants at the Beef Expo than the other shows, so it proved to be a very long and cold day.  Boo placed 5th in the Shorthorn class.  I think he was placed well, but several people told us that they thought he should have placed third.  There were good and bad features to both cows, but the judge has the final say. 

Rachel competed as the only Miniature Hereford in the All Other Breeds class.  She was up against about 9 other big cows.  To our great excitement, the judge placed her 4th.  We finally weren't last and the judge recognized her for the good cow that she is regardless of her size.  Many times she is discounted for her size and much lesser large cows with structural problems are placed higher than her.  We were exhausted by Sunday and tried really hard to convince Walker to just let us go home early.  Walker's smile in the ring when he realized that he was 4th made it all worth it.  It was great to hear the others in the stands that echoed our excitement.  Walker and Rachel obviously stand out in the crowd and many have watched us all season.  It was a great way to end a great week!